Data-driven robust menu planning for food services: Reducing food waste by using leftovers

With food waste levels of about 30%, mostly caused by overproduction, reducing food waste poses an important challenge in the food service sector. As food is prepared in advance rather than on demand, there is a significant risk that meals or meal components remain uneaten. Flexible meal planning can promote the reuse of these leftovers … Read more

Global Optimization of Gas Transportation and Storage: Convex Hull Characterizations and Relaxations

Gas transportation and storage has become one of the most relevant and important optimization problems in energy systems. This problem inherently includes highly nonlinear and nonconvex aspects due to gas physics, and discrete aspects due to the control decisions of active network elements. Obtaining even locally optimal solutions for this problem presents significant mathematical and … Read more

A Survey on the Applications of Stochastic Dual Dynamic Programming and its Variants

Stochastic Dual Dynamic Programming (SDDP) is widely recognized as the predominant methodology for solving large-scale multistage stochastic linear programming (MSLP) problems. This paper aims to contribute to the extant literature by conducting a comprehensive survey of the literature on SDDP within the realm of practical applications. We systematically identify and analyze the various domains where … Read more

Strong Formulations and Algorithms for Regularized A-Optimal Design

We study the Regularized A-Optimal Design (RAOD) problem, which selects a subset of \(k\) experiments to minimize the inverse of the Fisher information matrix, regularized with a scaled identity matrix. RAOD has broad applications in Bayesian experimental design, sensor placement, and cold-start recommendation. We prove its NP-hardness via a reduction from the independent set problem. … Read more

Rank-one convexification for convex quadratic optimization with step function penalties

We investigate convexification in convex quadratic optimization with step function penalties. Such problems can be cast as mixed-integer quadratic optimization problems, where binary variables are used to encode the non-convex step function. First, we derive the convex hull for the epigraph of a quadratic function defined by a rank-one matrix. Using this rank-one convexification, we … Read more

An interactive optimization framework for incorporating a broader range of human feedback into stochastic multi-objective mixed integer linear programs

Interactive optimization leverages the strengths of optimization frameworks alongside the expertise of human users. Prior research in this area tends to either ask human users for the same type of information, or when varying information is requested, users must manually modify the optimization model directly. These limitations restrict the incorporation of wider human knowledge into … Read more

Pareto Leap: An Algorithm for Biobjective Mixed-Integer Programming

Many real-life optimization problems need to make decisions with discrete variables and multiple, conflicting objectives. Due to this need, the ability to solve such problems is an important and active area of research. We present a new algorithm, called Pareto Leap, for identifying the (weak) Pareto slices of biobjective mixed-integer programs (BOMIPs), even when Pareto … Read more

Globally Converging Algorithm for Multistage Stochastic Mixed-Integer Programs via Enhanced Lagrangian Cuts

This paper proposes a globally converging cutting-plane algorithm for solving multistage stochastic mixed-integer programs with general mixed-integer state variables. We demonstrate the generation process of Lagrangian cuts and show that Lagrangian cuts capture the convex envelope of value functions on a restricted region. To approximate nonconvex value functions to exactness, we propose to iteratively add … Read more

A 2-index Stage-based Formulation and a Construct-Merge-Solve & Adapt Algorithm for the Flying Sidekick Traveling Salesman Problem

In this work, we present the first 2-index stage-based formulation for the Flying Sidekick Traveling Salesman Problem (FSTSP). Additionally, we propose a Construct-Merge-Solve & Adapt (CMSA) algorithm designed to generate high-quality feasible solutions. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm consistently produces good solutions in a fraction of the time required by state-of-the-art mixed-integer linear … Read more

Climate-Resilient Nodal Power System Expansion Planning for a Realistic California Test Case

Climate change is increasingly impacting power system operations, not only through more frequent extreme weather events but also through shifts in routine weather patterns. Factors such as increased temperatures, droughts, changing wind patterns, and solar irradiance shifts can impact both power system production and transmission and electric load. The current power system was not designed … Read more